The United Kingdom Heading Back Into Lockdown Next Month

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Britain could be heading for complete lockdown again by the end of the month and the Prime Minister must act now to stop it.

Sir David King said that we require a decent test and trace system by September, otherwise, full school opening will put us right back and he said that we’re nowhere near the safe reopening of schools.

And he’s urging Boris Johnson to get it right in August or risk a second wave of the coronavirus infection and he blasted the Government’s track and trace system as disastrous.

Sir David King, 80, oversees the Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies shadowing the Prime Minister’s scientific team.

He said the Government has a month to deal with the level of infectivity as it stands now and opening of schools should be a priority but believes we’re nowhere near the point where it can be done safely.

He said the R rate of infection number is anticipated to climb by about 0.5 with all schools open.

On Friday, government figures revealed the national rate as between 0.8 and 1 – the tipping point – as infections increase again and we will see the Government support lockdowns and this could happen nationwide.

Sir David King, who set up Independent SAGE amid concerns about political restraint on the official advisory committee said test and trace is still failing dramatically.

Tracing is one phone call and you’re asked to quarantine. There’s no follow up as to whether people do and he advised the Prime Minister to take track and trace from private firm Serco and to let councils run it.

He said that the Government made a calamitous blunder giving contact tracing to a firm with no healthcare expertise.

The Serco contract is up for renewal and they’ve had approximately £100 million so far, they’ll get £300 million if it’s extended and when you hit 3,000 new cases a day, it’s a huge number for any national body to deal with, but break it down into local regions and the numbers become manageable.

Sir David King said the Government should follow other countries and put isolating members of multi-generational households in hotels to circumvent contaminating relatives.

Official figures reveal UK cases have hit 309,763, with 46,566 deaths. WHO figures show 19,187,943 confirmed cases worldwide and 716,075 deaths.

Tighter lockdown restrictions and social distancing measures in the US, Hong Kong, the Philippines and other countries are being reimposed and the Academy of Medical Sciences has predicted up to 120,000 people here could die of COVID 19 this winter.

Perhaps we should be more inclined to believe reports from scientists based on evidence than the Government who have half-heartedly made out they’re trying to help us when actually they don’t seem to have a clue how to control this pandemic and the effects of it.

All they seem to be interested in is the economic impact than preserving human life and what is morally right and when the Tories have lost loved ones to COVID and lost their livelihoods with no support or afterthought, then they can tell those people that what’s happening to our country is in everyone’s best interest.